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Canada is now part of an international cartel to cut oil output & drive up prices. Canada and Alberta have already nationalized pipelines; the feds are subsidizing wages for oil workers, with more aid to come. So much for the 'free-market' petroleum industry...2
Why not just go all the way and nationalize the industry? That would be very useful for facilitating its ultimate phase-out. With the industry accountable to society-wide priorities (not private interests of largely foreign owners), it could be reoriented to sensible phase-out..3
Germany nationalized its coal mining industry in order to facilitate an orderly shut-down of production (over a 10-yr period). That allowed for planning and staging of closures, inter-site mobility, & retraining. Shutdown was accomplished without a single involuntary lay-off...4
Multi-year phase-out of coal generation in publicly-owned Ontario Hydro is another great example of how public ownership & planning can facilitate fair transitions. Again, planning, staging, mobility & system-wide transition supports allowed it to happen without one layoff...5
Depressed asset valuations and the government's willingness to use unconventional financing mechanisms also would make this an excellent time to buy back control of Canadian petroleum. I do not expect this idea to be supported right now by either prov or fed govts...6
But I think there's a rational & pragmatic argument that public ownership of a dying industry can allow society to maximise the social value of remaining production, better protect workers & communities, and facilitate alternative investments (eg. in renewables) to smooth the way
